Matching AIDS and tuberculosis registry data to identify AIDS/tuberculosis comorbidity cases in California.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity and positive predictive value (PPV) of a registry data linkage procedure used in the California AIDS and Tuberculosis (TB) Registry Data Linkage Study to identify AIDS/TB comorbidity cases in California. The California AIDS registry data from 1981 to 2006 were linked to the California TB registry data from 1996 to 2006 using LinkPlus, a probabilistic record linkage program developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and matched results were manually reviewed to determine true or false matches. We estimated the sensitivity of this procedure to range from 98.

Assessing the validity of tuberculosis surveillance data in California.

Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) convened a workgroup to revise the tuberculosis (TB) case report in the United States of America (U.S.).

An ecological study of tuberculosis transmission in California.

Objectives: We evaluated the association between ecological factors and rates of tuberculosis within California, using pediatric tuberculosis as an indicator of new transmission.

Methods: Ecological variables such as racial/ethnic distribution, immigration level, education, employment, poverty, and crowding were obtained from the United States Census for each census tract in California. These data were incorporated into a negative binomial regression model with the rate of pediatric tuberculosis disease in each census tract as an outcome variable.